Tractor lawn mower



F. M. S EELEY rucwon was mm Filed Jan. 16, 1922 Oct. 13, 1925' 2Shoots-Shoot 1 3mm Ja a/(66 It Keel Oct- 1-3, 1925- 1,556,965

F. M. sEEu-EY TRACTOR mum IOWER' I Filed Jan. 16. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 22:. Q- A WM l W w W" .l

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Patented Get. 13, 1925. i '1 i I UNITED STATES "PATENT OFFICE.

FAYETTE M. SEELEY, F LAN SIN GQMICHIGAN, ASSIGN'OR TO IDEAL ENGINECOMPANY,

OF LANSING, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF v1vTICI-IIG.A1\T.

TRACTOR LAWN MOWER.

Application filed January 16, 1922. Serial No. 529,444.

To all whom it may concern: mower unit are the downwardly and for- Be itknown that I, FAYETTE M. Snnmrr, wardly inclined links 9 pivotallyconnected a citizen of the United States of irmerica, to the side frames10 of the mower unit and residing at Lansing, in the county oflngham tothe lugs 11 upon the cross bar 8. To and State of Michigan, haveinvented cerpermit of rotation of the mower unit paraltain new anduseful Improvements in Traclel to a plane extending t-ransverselyof itstor Lawn Mowers, of which the following direction of travel so that themower unit is a specification, reference being had therein may followthe contour of the ground, the to the accompanying drawings. pivotalconnections at both the "uppe' and The invention relates to tractor lawnlower ends of the links allow of limiter-i mowers and has for one of itsobjects the freedom of movement of the links relaprovision of a compactarrangement of tractive tothe cross bar and of the mower unit tor andmower units, by means of which a relative to the links. As showninJFigure wide swath of grass can be cut at one time 3, the aperture 12in the upper end of the .andthe tractor lawn mower may be readily link 9which is engaged by the pivot. 13 turned. Another object is to provide asimupon the lug 11 is of greater diameter than ple form of propellingconnection between the pivot so that the link has limited transthe mowerunits and the tractor whichwill verse rocking movement. The apertures inpermit of the mower units freely engaging the lower ends of the linksare also of. greater 20 the ground and rotating parallel to planesdiameter than the pivots upon the .side

transverse to their direction of travel. 1! urframes engaging in theseapertures, as shown ther objects reside in the means formanuparticularly in Figure 4. To prevent lateral ally raising andlowering the mower units movement of the intermediate mower unit :andalso in the novel features of construcrelative to the tractor, the links9 have 'tion as more fully hereinafter set forth. bifurcatedupporendseach of which is loosely In the -;drawings: ipivotally connected to thecross bar 8 as Figures 1 and 2 are perspective views above described. ofa tractor lawn mower eml' odying my To propel the forward mower units 6invention; and and atthe same time to permit of .30 Fi ure 3 is asectional elevation of a derotation of each arallel to a lane extend- 35tail; I ingtransversely of their direction of travel, #iguret is a planview showing the loose there is the cross bar 15, extendingtransconnection between the propelling links and versely of the tractorframe stand secured .to mower units. the lower side thereof at itsforward end,

- 1 is a tractor having the combined driving and the downwardly andforwardly inclined and steering wheels 2 near its forward end links 16and 17 pivotally connected to the and the third wheel 3 at its rear end,this side frames of each of the forward mower wheel being free to changeits ,plane of :unitshand to the forward cross bar 15, the rotationrelative to the tractor frame pivotal connections permitting of limited40 5 is a mower unit intermediate the ends of freedom of movement of thelinks relative the tractor and preferably extending slightto the crossbars and of the mower units relaly beyond theiopposite sides of itsframe. tive to the links, the arrangement being the Sand 7 are alignedmower units at the same as that of the links 9 for the interforwardendof the tractor and offset onopmediate mower unit. The links 16 forposite sides of the mower unit 5, the latter each of the forward mowerunits are bifur- "being of sufficient length to overlap. 1he.adcated andloosely pivotally connected to ,iacent ends of the :mower units 6 and 17the cross bar 15 so thatrelative lateral moveto cut that portion of thegrass not cut by ment of theforward mower units and tracthese forwardunits. tor isprevented. Y 50 To propel the intermediate mower unit 5 Toraise and lower the mower units, there from the tractor, there is thecross bar 8 are the rock shaft 17,journalled in the tracpreferably anangle bar, extending transtor frame 1 intermediate its ends andexversely of and secured to the lower side tending transverselytherethough, and also of the tractor frame 45, and extending, bethe rockshaft 18, extending transversely of tween this cross bar and theintermediate the tractor frame and journalled in brackets 19 at theforward end of the tractor f1 ame. 20 are rock arms upon the rock shaft17', and 21 are flexible connections between these rock arms and thelower ends of the links 9, these flexible connections being chains inthe present instance. 22 are rock arms upon the rock shaft 18, and 23are flexible connections between the free ends of these rock arms andthe lower ends of the links 16 and 17, these flexible connections alsobeing chains. 2& is a hand. lever fixedly secured to the rock shaft 17in position to be readily operated by the driver of the tractor. Thishand lever is connected to the rock arm 25 upon the rock shaft 18 nearits middle by means of the link 26 whereby both rock shafts are actuatedat the same time to raise or lower the forward and intermediate mowerunits. As specifically shown, one of the rock arms upon the rock shaft1'7 is an integral part of the hand lever 24.

To hold the flexible connections 23 from engaging the knife reels of theforward mower units 16 and 17 when the mower units are in operation andmove upwardly toward the rock arms 22, coil springs 27 are providedconnected to separated links of the chain for yieldably taking up theslack, these springs permitting of the straightening of the chains underthe weights of the mower 'units as the latter move away from the rockarms.

From the above description, it will be seen that I have provided atractor lawn mower having several mower units, in which the total lengthis less than that of the usual tractor lawn mower in which all of themower units are forward or back of the tractor. Also by having theforward mower units in close proximity to the forward end of thetractor, the mower can be more easily turned. Furthermore, theconnections for propelling the mower units from the tractor are verysimple as is also the mechanism for raising and lowering the mowerunits.

IVhat I claim as my invention is:

1. In a tractor lawn mower, the combination with a tractor, of a mowerunit and downwardly and forwardly inclined links pivotally connected tosaid mower units and to the frame of said tractor, one of said linkshaving bifurcations pivotally connect-ed to the tractor frame wherebylateral movement of said mower unit relative to said tractor isprevented.

2. In a tractor lawn mower, the combination with a tractor havinga frameand a cross bar at the forward end therefor, of a mower unit at theforward end of said tractor, a rock shaft journalled in the forward endof said tractor frame, rock arms upon said shaft, flexible connectionsbetween said rock arms and mower unit, and a lever upon said tractorframe connected to said rock shaft for actuating the same.

3. In a tractor lawn mower, the combination with a tractor having aframe and cross bars intermediate its ends and at its forward end, ofmower units intermediate the ends of said tractor and at its forwardend, downwardly and forwardly inclined links pivotally connected to saidmower units and to said cross bars, rock shafts journalled in saidtractor frame and connected to said mower units for raising and loweringthe same, and means for simultaneously actuating said rock shafts.

4C. In a tractor lawn mower, the combination with a tractor having aframe, of a cross-bar rigidly secured to said frame, a ground engagingmower unit, forwardly and downwardly inclined links pivotally connectedto said mower unit and having portions thereof connected to saidcross-bar at spaced points thereof, whereby relative lateral movement ofsaid mower unit and said tractor is prevented.

5. In a tractor lawn mower, the combination with a tractor having aframe, of a cross-bar rigidly secured to said frame, a mower unit, anddownwardly and forwardly inclined links pivotally connected to saidmower unit and to said cross-bar, the pivotal connection between saidcross-bar and said links permitting said mower unit to run freely uponthe ground and to rotate about an axis transverse of the direction oftravel.

6. In a tractor lawn mower, the combination with a tractor, of a groundengaging mower unit, downwardly and forwardly inclined links pivotallyconnected to said mower unit and to the frame of said tractor, a rockshaft journalled upon the frame of said tractor, rock arms upon saidshaft, and flexible connections between said rock arms and mower unitwhereby rotation of said rock shaft will raise and lower said unit, andmeans for automatically taking up slack in the flexible connections.

7. In atractor lawn mower, the combination with a tractor and a groundengaging mower unit, of links pivotally connected to said mower unit andto the frame of said tractor, inclined downwardly from the frame to saidunit, means for raising and lowering said unit including flexibleconnections, and means for automatically taking up slack in saidconnections.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

FAYETTE M. SEELEY.

